Catching up

With the election over, we spent the weekend catching up on chores. The son of a neighbor came and did the lion's share of our leaf raking (without asking to be paid although Bjorn did slip him some cash) because his mother said we had been too busy with the election. That or she really thought our yard looked like crap. Josh did about 25 bags of leaves and Bjorn did another 10. All that and we still have leaves on our lawn. So in an exciting weekend, we did leaves.
Planted bulbs at Margareta's.

Made a baby laugh (okay, not a chore, but how cute is this picture? Who cares if it's not part of the theme.)

Crawling.

Bjorn replaced the kitchen sink.

And the babies looked all adorable (again, not part of the theme, but how cute are they?) This isn't Meg's best picture, but I liked that both their heads were in the frame so I can see how really similar they look. Her mouth, sadly, is always open these days. I actually don't mind it being open like this because she has also discovered how to grind her teeth and it. makes. me. crazy.

Public toilets

Andy is doing great with the potty training right now. I can't get him to wear his new underwear. He insists on wearing a pull-up or a diaper, but he is telling me when he has to go and then goes. It's going to take some adjustment on my part to be able to jump when he says he has to go. Like yesterday at Target, we had sat down to a fine meal of chicken tenders and nachos from the $2 menu when he announced he had to pee. I had to quickly put lunch in a bag and rush to the toilet. We ended up eating lunch out of the bag later as we shopped. Fortunately, it was just the two of us. If Meg were with us, it would have been a bigger challenge to quickly get moving.

This all brings me to the subject of public restrooms. I'm not a germaphobe by any stretch and I'm not afraid of public toilets. With a bladder as small as mine and my affection for wine, public restrooms are something I got used to a lot time ago. But I just sit on the seat. Andy, meanwhile, has to lean his little legs up against the toilet and sometimes rests his penis on the toilet bowl because he's not quite tall enough. I always make a point to wipe him down afterwards, but still, ick. And last week at Chipotle, there was a line for the Ladies room so I had to go in the Mens (and is it Ladies' and Mens'? I need to look that up). Anyway, we went in the Mens' room which was just disgusting to begin with and having to touch the nasty toilet seat with my hands to get him ready, well, ick. Sure, I washed down afterwards, but it was still gross.

In the last few months, Andy has gone to an every other day bath schedule, but with Meg spitting up on herself all the time, I've taken to giving her a bath every day to wash the smudge off her hair and neck. I think he's going to need one daily, too, until he's at least tall enough to not molest the toilet when he pees.

The strange behavior of toddlers

Good news, Andy did not have to go to time out yesterday for throwing rocks. Rather, his odd behavior of the day was taking off his shoes and socks on the playground (at least three times) and insisting on filling them with rocks and sticks. When I picked him up, he was filthy dirty. It was hot outside anyway and he was covered in dirt. Apparently he'd also been rolling around on the ground. When I finally got him in the bath, I put shampoo in his hair and watched the brown wash off him.

Funny, when he was a baby I was so diligent about making sure he got a bath every day. Now life is so busy (and he's so opinionated) that I don't always get to and it's clear that now he's actually getting dirty, not just needing to be spritzed off.

Code Brown

Me: Bjorn, we have good news and bad news. The good news is he didn't freak out when I gave him a bath. The bad news is we had a code brown.
Bjorn: Code brown, huh? Was it near the potty?
Me: Kind of. If you consider my leg near it.
Bjorn: Your leg? I'm not sure I even want to hear how that was possible.

That's right - somehow my kid managed to use my leg as a toilet. I had him undressed and ready for his bath and was in the process of talking up how fun his toys are and doesn't he want to get in, blah, blah, blah, when he came and sat on my lap. And proceeded to use it as his personal toilet. Odd, it felt warm, but it wasn't the same as when he's peed on me. Isn't this great? I can now tell the difference in his bowel movements based on the warmth it brings to my leg. Mad skillz, my friends, mad skillz. I know you're all jealous.

On a more positive note, we didn't have any temper tantrums tonight. I took him to Wegman's in the evening to get stuff for the office pot luck tomorrow and he was a good sport. We looked at the train, played with twist ties and he was helpful in picking out what he wanted for dinner later. And then when I got home, we put him in the booster chair at the table and when I asked him if he wanted things, he nodded and then ate them happily. He even asked for "addle-sauz" (applesauce) which I understood and brought him. It was pleasant all around.

Oh, and in case you missed Saturday Night Live this week. Check out this digital video short. It was on network TV, but still, you might not view this at work.

Back to work

We've returned from our trip and I, for one, am exhausted. I think I need a vacation from my vacation. Andy was a champ on the flight home due in part to the portable DVD player (for those keeping score at home, this was the third of three that I tried to buy in Dallas. Polaroid turned out to be the winner). In contrast to our flight before Thanksgiving, lines were non-existent and there wasn't much traffic anywhere except the international baggage claim area next to ours at Dulles. I'm always amazed that people travel with huge cardboard boxes with their names on them, but I digress.

The trip to Dallas was great, lots of fun catching up with old friends and family. Andy picked up about a hundred new things, including calling his Aunt Mary "Tia" which both seem to enjoy. He also can say Pop, Meh-han (his version of Megan), and Lexie. Saying Grandmother thus eludes him, but it's funny to hear my mother try. By the end, he could almost say Cowboys, which is a must in Dallas.

The last few nights have been long ones with Andy waking up every 30 minutes for some reason or another. The night before we were in Dallas so I attributed it to the stress of the Christmas party and us sleeping in the room with him, but last night in his own bed in his own room, he did the same thing, much to the chagrin of his exhausted parents. I have a feeling it might be gas due to all the weird stuff he's been eating and drinking the past couple of weeks. Keep your fingers crossed that tonight goes better as I'm quite tired.